ArtsWatch: Twitter Music: A Big Deal?

Twitter Music Aggregates The Tracks That Artists Tweet On April 18 Twitter launched its Twitter Music website and iPhone app, collating musicians that other musicians follow and tracks they tweet. The default audio licensing plays samples from Apple's iTunes while subscribers to Rdio or Spotify can hear whatever full tracks are available by connecting through their account. Alternative options for listening and navigating include artists and tracks that are "emerging" and a custom roundup based on music being tweeted by people and artists a subscriber follows. The service's blog announcement said, "half of all [Twitter] users follow at least one musician." Billboard.biz described Twitter Music as a work in progress that leverages Twitter's existing user base. While it is designed to be fun and easy for consumers, this new arrival imposes fresh promotional chores on musicians wanting to draw attention to their own work, since their choice of what other musicians and tracks to promote is what will attract attention and drive the entire service. In that sense, Twitter Music is meant to be an improvisational work in progress composed by musicians.

One House Bill To Preserve The Internet And Another For Cybersecurity Protection Two bills moving forward in the U.S. House of Representatives have potentially significant but unknown consequences for the future of freedom on the Internet. The House Commerce Committee unanimously approved H.R. 1580, to affirm the policy of the United States regarding Internet governance, on April 17. Its main language now reads, "It is the policy of the United States to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet." Previously controversial draft text that the Internet should be "free from government control" was dropped in order to satisfy critics' concern that it could interfere with appropriate regulations. H.R. 624, the Cyber Intelligence and Sharing Protection Act, passed the House on April 18, and is intended to expedite information-sharing between the private sector and federal intelligence agencies about online threats. The White House has expressed its dissatisfaction with the current language of the bill and threatened a veto, so CISPA's present status is now similar to last year's version that expired at the close of the previous Congress. Internet freedom and consumer privacy activists are mobilizing to pressure the Senate to alter CISPA so that its security focus does not ride roughshod over Internet users' expectations of confidentiality and privacy online.

TV Broadcasters Want Rehearing In Their Case Against Aereo On April 15 broadcasters petitioned the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for a rehearing "en banc" of this month's earlier three-judge decision in favor of Internet TV retransmission service Aereo. The petition argued, "Unless reversed, [this] decision will wreak commercial havoc by allowing new and existing distributors to design around [a copyright] license requirement and profit from the delivery of copyrighted programming while paying nothing for it."

European Court Clears Collecting Societies Of Collusion The General Court of the European Union gave European collecting societies represented by CISAC a victory on April 12 by finding that Europe's territorial licensing system of reciprocal representation was not a concerted practice to restrict competition. Although this involves a partial annulment of a European Commission decision meant to promote pan-European licensing of digital works, the element addressed seems restricted to a charge of anticompetitive wrongdoing. Model contracts for European collecting societies were adjusted years back to suit European Commission requirements regarding membership conditions and exclusivity. CISAC Director General Olivier Hinnewinkel said the court's ruling "allows us to continue our work in championing sustainable licensing solutions."

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.

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ArtsWatch: GOP House Kicks Off Against FCC Net Regs

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.

On Jan. 5 Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — a 2007 recipient of the GRAMMYs on the Hill Award — introduced H.R. 96, the Internet Freedom Act, to block the Federal Communications Commission's recently passed Net neutrality regulations from taking effect. Those new rules were originally opposed by the two Republican FCC commissioners and H.R. 96 has already received the support of nearly 60 co-sponsors, primarily Republicans. Blackburn said, "The only sector of our economy showing growth is online. In these times, for an unelected bureaucracy with dubious jurisdiction and misplaced motives to unilaterally regulate that growth is intolerable.... I agree that the Internet faces a number of challenges. Only Congress can address those challenges without compounding them. Until we do, the FCC and other federal bureaucracies should keep their hands off the 'Net." The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee now chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who previously committed to take numerous steps to block the FCC's new rules. Net neutrality advocates Public Knowledge said, "In fact, no one has suggested the FCC 'regulate the Internet'.... What the FCC want[ed] to do...was to reassert its traditional jurisdiction over telecommunications services so that it could protect consumers."

The new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), announced the re-establishment of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet last month. Its independent jurisdiction was discontinued in the previous Congress two years ago. Smith said, "A separate IP subcommittee will ensure that the committee remains focused on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent reform and copyright protections." NMPA President/CEO David Israelite said, "The music publishing and songwriting community enthusiastically supports...Chairman Smith's decision to reconstitute a subcommittee devoted to intellectual property issues. As the digital marketplace continues to expand, the challenges and opportunities for America's creative industries will only multiply in number and complexity. Devoting a forum in the U.S. House of Representatives to these 21st century business issues is a forward-looking, pro-economy and pro-jobs decision."

New York and Los Angeles made noteworthy efforts to fight piracy last month. New York launched a widespread Piracy Doesn't Work In NYC awareness campaign, stressing the fact that it "kills jobs." Los Angeles announced a record-breaking tally for its Operation Chimney Sweep holiday raids — 10 arrests and seizures of more than $4 million in counterfeit merchandise.

On Dec. 22 the MPAA hailed the intellectual property recommendations submitted in a letter to President Barack Obama during a Dec. 9 meeting of the President's Export Council. A transcript of the high-level event gives special credit to Walt Disney Company President/CEO Robert A. Iger's leading role as having "sponsored" the letter and reveals remarkable exchanges between Iger and Obama. The president commented that "everybody gets a little nervous" when asked to be a witness to actual piracy abroad. Iger responded touting the effectiveness of having CEOs meet face-to-face based on facts of how their company has been victimized; however he said, "There has been retribution." Obama responded by suggesting that his administration might be able to discourage such retribution by being chaperones, "taking you in to have that conversation with the other country."

Good news and bad news from abroad. In France, approximately 2,000 warnings have been sent out daily to online infringers by the newly created HADOPI agency since November. Unfortunately, the warnings are just getting up to speed while daily reports of infringement exceed 50,000 complaints. In related news, on Dec. 21, Spain's Parliament rejected tougher antipiracy legislation, seemingly influenced by reports that the United States had pressured the government to adopt it. However, the legislation is expected to be considered by the Spanish Senate later this month.

On Jan. 4 California's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Universal Music Group's position that CDs labeled "for promotional use only" could not be legally resold by their recipients. The lack of an explicit agreement not to resell the promotional CDs was a deciding factor in the court's ruling.

New York's Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted broadcasters' motion for summary judgment on Jan. 4 against an FCC determination that instances of scripted nudity were indecent. The court based the ruling on its Nov. 22 decision not to rehear a similar case in which it found the FCC's indecency policy to be unconstitutionally vague.

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ArtsWatch: GAO Questions Industry Estimates Of Piracy's Harm

Doubts over estimates' accuracy mostly due to covert nature of the problem

Philip Merrill

GRAMMYs

May 15, 2017 - 2:05 pm

GRAMMY.com

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.

On April 12 the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported on its efforts to quantify the damages caused to the economy by counterfeiting and piracy. Industry efforts were smacked down as inadequately rigorous, but the GAO was unable to recommend a proper approach. The illicit nature of piracy received most of the blame since it causes a lack of data. The report suggested a more careful approach would be needed, using formulas based on assumptions that dealt with each of the many industries affected. The Copyright Alliance called attention to the agency's acknowledgement that damages go beyond lost sales and said, "…it is important to note GAO's endorsement of the fact that piracy has a multiplier effect that ripples throughout the economy." The report notably included views expressed by consumer advocates that infringement produces benefits such as saving consumers money and granting access to creative works before their release date. This report was called for by the same legislation that created the new position of U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator and relates to comments the IPEC received last month. Although the quantitative estimates produced by content industries are severely questioned by this GAO report, the consequences are worse for consumer advocates' insistence that enforcement actions should only be taken after a rigorous cost-benefit analysis has been performed. When it comes to quantifying economic harms caused by piracy — let alone so-called "benefits" — it seems an adequately rigorous approach remains beyond what today's state of the art can accomplish.

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3125, the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, on April 14. Describing the bipartisan bill before its passage by a vote of 394–18, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) said, "It directs the [Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration] and the [Federal Communications Commission] to undertake a comprehensive survey of the nation's spectrum and report to us on current spectrum utilization, with recommendations of which, if any, of the least utilized blocks of spectrum should be reallocated for commercial use or be subjected to spectrum sharing with commercial users. The measure is a thoughtful approach to meeting the extraordinary spectrum demands the nation will soon face." Companion legislation S. 649 is pending in the Senate.

On April 14 the Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski regarding the National Broadband Plan. Genachowski expressed confidence in his agency's ability to make satisfactory progress despite the size of the job, the court setback to FCC authority covered in last week's ArtsWatch, and some senators' strong opposition to the FCC reclassifying Internet service to gain greater regulatory authority. Consumer advocates Public Knowledge noted that no senators complained in 2005 when the FCC used its own authority to reclassify Internet service under looser regulations.

Speaking to a group of French regulators holding a Net neutrality conference on April 13, European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes announced she will launch a public consultation on Net neutrality by summer and report the results before next year. In her remarks she endorsed the FCC's other five Open Internet rules but suggested Net neutrality needed an agreed-upon definition before a regulatory approach could be determined. She observed that some concerns could be met by enforcing other regulatory approaches such as minimum quality of service requirements, fair competition rules, or restrictions on Internet service providers' marketing language. Kroes seemed to believe it would be regulatory overkill to forbid charging companies a fee to guarantee high-speed delivery of their content because such a prohibition would inhibit future business models.

Since the UK's Digital Economy Bill became law earlier this month with strict antipiracy provisions included, attention has shifted to questions of what regulatory details remain to be put in place. On April 13 the Los Angeles Times editorialized that the focus on account-holder liability could stifle public Internet use at libraries and coffee shops. Separately, BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor told Billboard.biz that the UK recording industry organization would have to initiate lawsuits against some individual Internet users because the bill's legal protections for consumers make that a necessary first step before technical measures can be used to reduce online infringement.

Anticipation of Common Sense Media's upcoming digital literacy curriculum has included coverage in The New York Times and Cnet News. Designed for grades 5–8, it includes a standalone unit on "Respecting Creative Work. How to get credit for original creations and respect other's creative property."

On April 14 the Library of Congress announced it will archive public Twitter posts since the service's inception in 2006. The most recent tweets will be preserved after a six-month delay. The library portrays this as consistent with its efforts to preserve other digital material of historical importance.

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ArtsWatch: New Rules For European Royalties

On July 11 the European Commission proposed language for a new directive to regulate songwriters' royalty collection societies, combining minimum quality standards for their business operations, with specific procedures to encourage online licensing across multiple European territories. European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier said, "More efficient collecting societies would make it easier for service providers to roll out new services available across borders — something that serves both European consumers and cultural diversity. More generally, all collecting societies should ensure that creators are rewarded more quickly for their work and must operate with full transparency." Members of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and advocacy group Younison expressed disappointment that the proposal did not address the present backlog of revenues that have not yet been distributed. British collection society PRS for Music said, "The commission has outlined a new framework for consistent and high standards ... that we welcome as the route to building further confidence in collective management."

European Parliament rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement on July 4, with 478 members voting against the agreement, 39 in favor and 165 abstaining. A coalition of organizations representing intellectual property creators expressed their disappointment. Although the U.S.-led agreement must now proceed without European participation, last month an EU commissioner suggested that the EC might someday resubmit ACTA to Parliament after receiving a judicial finding that it is not in violation of European human rights.

Independence Day observances this year included alternative Internet freedom petitions. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) supported the "Declaration of Internet Freedom," which garnered widespread support from consumer advocates and resembled the digital Bill of Rights Issa proposed last month. Website conglomerate BuzzFeed reported that aides to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) declared the legislators' support for a libertarian alternative called "The Technology Revolution — A Campaign for Liberty Manifesto." On July 6 countries belonging to the United Nations' Human Rights Council, as well as other nations, adopted a resolution that "recognizes the global and open nature of the Internet" and "calls upon all states to promote and facilitate access to the Internet."

A July 10 markup in the House Judiciary Committee of draft legislation titled the "Intellectual Property Attaché Act" did not result in a vote on the bill, which has yet to be introduced. TechDirt coverage was followed by swift complaints from consumer advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge accusing Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) of trying to sneak in a piece of his blocked bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act, H.R. 3261. SOPA foe Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) went on record that he was not opposed to the attaché legislation, but for the time being it seems that this bill has retreated back into its metaphorical burrow.

U.S. Trade RepresentativeRon Kirk announced the submission of a new provision to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on July 3, supporting greater international specificity for the balanced copyright approach of limitations and exceptions, including those enshrined in U.S. law such as the fair use defense. In a USTR blog, Kirk wrote, "For the first time in any U.S. trade agreement, the United States is proposing a new provision, consistent with the internationally recognized '3-step test,' that will obligate parties to seek to achieve an appropriate balance in their copyright systems in providing copyright exceptions and limitations for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research." Consumer advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge argued that the disclosure was inadequate, and Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld wrote an ArsTechnica op-ed conceding that this is a "big deal" but claiming, "MPAA/RIAA have definitely lost a major round here." That advocacy-motivated spin mischaracterizes the best interests of copyright owners and an argument can equally be made that this is a win-win for everyone.

On July 6 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down part of the statute creating the Copyright Royalty Board as an unconstitutional violation of the Appointments Clause. Essentially, the power to hire and fire have to go to the same government official — the Librarian of Congress had the power to hire and now also has the power to fire. Appellant nonprofit Intercollegiate Broadcasting System could potentially seek another appeal focused on the merits of the actual rates. But as attorney David Oxenford said, "Going forward, it seems like the board can function as it has."

Television broadcasters won one and lost one in preliminary rounds of separate cases before the Southern District of New York's U.S. District Court. On July 9 Dish Network lost its New York motion for a declaratory ruling that its ad-skipping Hopper feature did not violate broadcasters' copyrights, and must now defend Hopper against broadcasters' lawsuits in the Central District of California (previous ArtsWatch coverage). On July 11 broadcasters lost their motion for a preliminary injunction against Aereo, the antenna-based technology that allows Internet viewing of consumer-recorded broadcasts (previous ArtsWatch coverage). The broadcasters announced they will appeal the ruling.

Following Google's similar move last month, on July 2 Twitter released its first Transparency Report that tracks copyright infringement takedown notices. Twitter complied with 38 percent of the 3,378 notices it received in the first half of 2012, taking down 5,275 tweets.

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.

Click on the "ArtsWatch" tag for links to other GRAMMY News stories in this series.

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ArtsWatch: Online Ad Networks' Antipiracy Commitment

Rogue websites will be blocked from major sources of advertising revenue

Philip Merrill

GRAMMYs

May 15, 2017 - 2:37 pm

GRAMMY.com

In recent news ...

Ad Networks' Best Practices Are More Than A Game-Changer On July 15 U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel announced a voluntary best practices agreement with operators of leading Internet advertising networks, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. With the support of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the agreement establishes procedures the content industry can follow to deny infringing websites participation in lucrative ad-display revenue opportunities. The MPAA and RIAA welcomed the best practices as a step forward while noting that the agreement is just a beginning. Consumer advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge understand the need for new procedures but expressed concern that some non-infringing websites could be unfairly targeted. The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus described the announcement as "welcome news" without mentioning the constructive arm-twisting they applied with their letter to the IAB on April 18. While the prize of diminishing rogue websites' ad revenues is desirable, the problem with this is the immense new burden these practices delegate to content owners. Sending out millions of takedown notices to infringing Internet services has been compared to the arcade game Whac-A-Mole because rightsholders score points by hammering at infringers while new ones keep popping up. These ad networks' best practices are the new game in town, likely to generate fresh, costly and massive efforts as the creative community continues to struggle to protect their original works from infringement.

China Agrees To Implement Best Practices For Software Asset Management The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue met in Washington, D.C., on July 10–11, producing extensive agreements, including China's commitment to implement software asset management systems in state-owned enterprises. "It is encouraging that China has committed to specific measures, including implementing a software asset management program, to ensure that its state-owned enterprises are using only legal software," said Jodie Kelley, BSA: The Software Alliance general counsel and senior vice president of anti-piracy. "There are proven, internationally recognized best practices for software asset management. Adopting them as common practice would go a long way toward curbing software piracy among state-owned enterprises, and it would send a powerful signal to China's private sector." China also reaffirmed its commitment to continued progress on antipiracy, through tougher legislation and enforcement with "a particular focus on combating Internet piracy."

Aereo Survives Again! On July 16 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected broadcasters' petition for a review by the court's 13 active judges of the three-judge decision to let Aereo keep operating its business in April. This survival saga has spanned many ArtsWatch columns, but in short the idea is that Aereo hired great lawyers to design a goofy technology allowing them to retransmit broadcast TV over the Internet (without paying for it) while claiming compliance with legal precedent. So far, the Aereo case seems to prove high-cost legal counsel's ability to string out an argument more than it does that Aereo is operating a legitimate business model. The company's business plan likely anticipated extended litigation. The underlying case is still in U.S. District Court in pre-trial discovery. The appeals process is confined to whether Aereo should be prohibited from doing business unless it actually wins the case. Broadcasters are still considering whether to appeal their latest loss to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unlicensed Soccer-Streaming Website Blocked In Britain A London High Court judge issued an injunction ordering the UK's six leading Internet service providers to block users from accessing First Row Sports' website, a commercially successful linksite connecting users to unlicensed streams of sporting events. The case was brought by Britain's Football Association Premier League in advance of its season's first game on Aug. 17. First Row Sports told the BBC that the block would not prevent users from accessing the unlicensed streams by other means. But First Row Sports will be deprived of the financial revenue it would have received by displaying paid advertisements to UK computer users.

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.

Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of The Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for The Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by The Recording Academy. BELIEVE IN MUSIC is a trademark and/or registered trademark of National Association of Music Merchants, Inc. Used under license.